Meetup Rebrand

by jennifer gergen
Design Director, Brand & Identity at Meetup

Starting today, we’ve got new apps and a new look — bright, bold, energetic, and yes, a little quirky — that captures Meetup as we’ve always known it. For the first time, our outsides finally match our insides.

The swarm and our new look

There are lots of reasons to love Meetup’s nametag logo, but one important reason to ditch it. The nametag represents the most awkward moment in the entire Meetup experience — the moment you have to say hello to a complete stranger.

We didn’t make the same mistake with our new branding (created by renowned design firm Sagmeister & Walsh). Now our logo represents why Meetup exists in the first-place — to bring people together to do the things that matter most to them. We call it the Meetup swarm, and it’s created when individual dots unite to form the “m” symbol. We love the dynamism of the animation, and all the possibilities it inspires for our product design.

Each Meetup group is a different swarm, made unique by the people who join it and the interests they share. The new Meetup visual identity is inspired by this concept — a brand built by the crowd. In the same way a crowd changes and grows with the people who join, Meetup is constantly evolving with our members. A company like ours can’t upgrade our branding without giving everyone in our community the chance to participate.

So, coming soon, each Meetup group will have an easy way to pick a symbol, customize it, and make the Meetup swarm their own. We hope our members and organizers love the new look as much as we do, and that it helps create great looking signs and swag, making it easier to find each other in real life.

Beyond the swarm, all the elements of our new branding system capture the spirit and energy of millions of people meeting up to do what they want to do in life. This includes the bright color palette, the duotone photo treatment, and a set of unique photos created for each of Meetup’s categories (featuring Meetup members as models).

Our new apps

The best way to experience our new look is on our apps for iOS andAndroid. The new visual identity is launching at the same time as a total overhaul of our apps. We’ve redesigned them to expose the best Meetups for our members, and to simplify the experience so that it’s easier than ever to join, RSVP, and start a Meetup.